FILM · 1927 · FRANCE
Napoléon
- Directed by
- Abel Gance
- Runtime
- 330 min
- Studio
- Société Westi, Ciné France, Films Abel Gance
36 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
A biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte, tracing the Corsican's career from his schooldays (where a snowball fight is staged like a military campaign) to his flight from Corsica, through the French Revolution (where a real storm is intercut with a political storm) and the Terror, culminating in his triumphant invasion of Italy in 1797.
Summary: TMDB
All facts (36)
- #001
Abel Gance recalled a scene that censors removed: civilians being executed by soldiers. The camera is used like a bullet, approaching one human target, then another, then another. Although a still photograph survives, the sequence is lost.
- #002
The snowballs in the snowball fight scene were actually cotton balls. During filming, one of the extras threw a real one containing a stone. It struck Nicolas Roudenko square in the face and broke his nose.
- #003
The film was restored in 1981 after 20 years of work by silent film historian Kevin Brownlow.
- #004
Alongside its pioneering use of widescreen, the film features extensive handheld camera work. To heighten the dramatic impact of many scenes, the producers carried out extensive experiments with small, hand-held, motorized cameras.
- #005
Director Abel Gance worried that the film's finale would not achieve the required effect if it remained confined to a small screen. He considered expanding the frame by using three cameras side by side. It was the first use of a rectangular image in cinema (with an aspect ratio of roughly 4.00:1). This is probably the most famous of the film's various innovative techniques. Although American producers began experimenting with 70 mm widescreen in 1929, widescreen did not become widespread until CinemaScope was invented in 1953.
- #006
Abel Gance had cameramen who shot behind-the-scenes footage of nearly the entire production. Much of this still exists and appears in Kevin Brownlow's documentary Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite (1968).
- #007
The scene with the ghosts of the Parliament used at least 40 exposures to create its effect. The single shot during the pillow fight used about 60. The multiple exposures were made on an optical printer and required meticulous craftsmanship.
- #008
When director Abel Gance could not obtain the financial backing needed to expand the film to complete his original concept of a cinematic trilogy, he threw away the film cans that were to be used, depriving future film historians of invaluable insights into the director's vision.
- #009
An unplanned explosive detonation left numerous cast and crew members seriously injured. Among the injured was director Abel Gance.
- #010
Some critics in 1927 believed the film was fascist propaganda. At the time, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was being hailed as the Napoleon of the 20th century. The film's director, Abel Gance, personally expressed his admiration for Mussolini. During the occupation, Gance was seen to support the Vichy regime, and in 1941 he openly praised Marshal Philippe Pétain.
- #011
Some footage was shot in a dual-strip 35 mm 3D format, but this was not included in the final release print or any later re-release. Sources suggest this footage still exists.
- #012
This early feature film was revolutionary in two respects: it was the first film shot in widescreen and the first film to include a film score.
- #013
In December 2016 it was released on Blu-ray in a version longer than those previously available; it runs 5 hours 33 minutes and uses Carl Davis's score.
- #014
It was selected by the Vatican for its list of 45 "great films," in the "art" category.
- #015
Abel Gance shot 290 hours of film.
- #016
The film was shown in 1927 in a nine-hour version.
- #017
At least one of the schoolboys in the snowball fight is played by a girl.
- #018
The film's sections are titled "Vendémiaire" and "Thermidor." These were two of the new names given to months of the year in the French republican calendar. Thermidor covered the period from mid-July to mid-August, and Vendémiaire covered the period from mid-September to mid-October.
- #019
It was first produced by Giuseppe Barattolo (1882-1949), who was forced to stop filming because of the financial crisis in the Italian film industry (Rome, 30 January 1924).
- #020
The Corsica scenes were deliberately shot in the spring of 1925, when the island's flowers were at their best.
- #021
Abel Gance encouraged extras to act violently toward one another in some scenes. A large number of injured people were taken to hospital.
- #022
When Stanley Kubrick set out to make his own Napoleon project, he tried to see every film made about Napoleon, including this one. Kubrick, however, disliked this film, which he called "really terrible." He credited Gance for his innovative film techniques but criticized the story and the performances as a "very crude picture."
- #023
The version that premiered in April 1927 ran four hours.
- #024
Pasquale Paoli (or Pascal Paoli) was a Corsican who fought for Corsica's independence from Genoa and France (after Genoa sold Corsica to France in 1764). Bonaparte's family supported Paoli's original campaign until Paoli was defeated. He fled to Britain and returned in 1790 when he was elected President. He initially supported the revolution but turned to the royalist party when he opposed the matter of the king's execution. Napoleon, who was serving in the Corsican National Guard at the time, broke with Paoli and accused him of treason when he learned of Paoli's royalist leanings. Paoli eventually fled to Britain in 1795. He remains a symbol of Corsican independence.
- #025
Vladimir Roudenko never spoke about the film as an adult.
- #026
This film is among the Top 250 Narrative Feature Films on Letterboxd.
- #027
The film was originally supposed to end with the 1798 Egyptian campaign.
- #028
Joseph-Agricola Viala was a 12-year-old boy from southern France who stood out while fighting for the revolution. He was killed while trying to stop royalists from crossing the Durance River.
- #029
The snowball fight was shot in February 1925, when Vladimir Roudenko was 15 years old. The other pupils were played by local children between the ages of 8 and 12.
- #030
It was shown in the longest version available at the time, but by no means in its entirety, and was presented by Francis Ford Coppola on 23 January 1981 at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
- #031
Napoléon Bonaparte was portrayed on the screen for the first time.
- #032
It was the debut of the actress Annabella.
- #033
Pozzo Di Borgo was Pasquale Paoli's chief aide while Paoli was President of Corsica.
- #034
In the first meeting scene, there is a snake on Acho Chakatouny's shoulder, probably one that fell from the nearby bushes.
- #035
This is the oldest film ever rated by the Motion Picture Association (MPA), and that rating is "G."
- #036
Albert Dieudonné wanted very much to play the lead role but was initially rejected because he was too strong. For the long shots, he went on a diet so that his body would resemble that of a young man.
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